33 years for murder at Howard Lake business where shooter, wife and victim worked

A man has received a prison term topping 33 years for a killing outside a Wright County business where the shooter, his wife and the victim worked.

Kevin Uriel Zelaya Asencio, 24, of Glencoe, Minn., was sentenced Monday after pleading guilty to second-degree intentional murder and second-degree assault in connection with the March 2023 shooting of Adrian Montano Medina in the parking lot of the Dura Supreme cabinet manufacturing company in Howard Lake.

With credit for time in jail since his arrest, Zelaya Asencio is expected to serve the first 21 years of his 33-year term in prison and the balance on supervised release.

The County Attorney’s Office said it based its criminal complaint on interviews with witnesses and Zelaya Asencio, along with physical evidence and surveillance video.

According to the complaint and other court documents:

Numerous calls to 911 reported the shooting, including one from a woman screaming. One caller gave law enforcement the license plate of a pickup truck that Zelaya Asencio drove from the parking lot.

Police arrived and found Medina in the driver’s seat of a pickup truck with a fatal gunshot wound to his head.

Minutes later, a sheriff’s deputy spotted Zelaya Asencio’s pickup traveling on Hwy. 12 in Waverly. Zelaya Asencio was arrested, and the deputy found an AR-15 assault-style rifle in the pickup.

Zelaya Asencio was suspicious his wife and Medina were romantically involved.

After arriving at work that morning, Zelaya Asencio’s wife told him she wanted to end their marriage. Zelaya Asencio then left work, drove to his apartment and retrieved the AR-15. He then drove back to work and parked near Medina’s vehicle.

Shortly after noon, Medina and Zelaya Asencio’s wife left the Dura Supreme building together and got in Medina’s vehicle to have lunch together.

Zelaya Asencio exited his pickup while holding the rifle. He walked to Medina’s vehicle, got in the back seat and ordered Medina to “either leave the vehicle or drive away,” the complaint read. Medina refused to comply. Zelaya Asencio made a threat and then shot Medina in the head.

Zelaya Asencio went back to his pickup and drove off but was soon arrested.